Sunday, February 18, 2007

2007: The Year of Watching DVDs, Part VI: Bruce Willis Inexplicably Pops Up



This week's watching:

It Happened One Night (1934)
"People in love are very seldom hungry". Brilliant. This is the 52nd IMDb 250 film I've seen this year, and it's the first one to seriously disappoint. It's about a slimy man and an ugly girl (rich) who fall in love. Some say it created the screwball comedy, but what do I care? Frank Capra must die.


Double Indemnity (1944)
In contrast, this was terrific, more or less. Grade: Three Michael Keatons and one Bruce Willis. He's a little bigger than Mike, but I'm sure he'll fit.


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
I thought it was a solid three but the ending was great, like, four or five.


Le salaire de la peur (1953)
3 Willises. Hey, have you noticed I've stopped telling you what the movies are about? This one's about the wages of fear.


Diaboliques, Les (1955)
Another 3 Willises (Willis means I don't really mean it.) What do I care about French fuckers? I saved their ass in World War II!


Das Boot (1981)
At 4 hours, 41 minutes (the uncut original version), I should hate this with a passion. But I regard it as a TV series so it sidesteps my "all long movies suck" rule. Good on you, Boot! Anyway, it's a fully realized account of life in a German submarine. I've never forgiven the Germans for WW2, but since this has an anti-war message I'll be generous:


The Great Escape (1963)
Again, as much as I dislike long movies (this one's 2.45), this one just flew by. Very watchable.


Rashômon (1950)
Yojimbo (1961)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Very nice, not my cup of tea, never forgiven the Japanese etc, etc. I'll watch them all again some day and maybe they'll grow on me. I was disappointed in Citizen Kane the first time I saw it, too.


The Pianist (2002)
Haven't we seen it all before? The Holocaust was bad, right? Even for Jews in Poland? I guess I should say something about never having forgiven the Polish for folding in WW2 or whatever. Quite accomplished, but unimpressive.


Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Typical Oscar winner: well crafted, sentimental, predictable. If you're an avid movie-watcher you'll likely be able to guess almost every detail of the last 20 minutes or so. My favorite moment: When Hilary Swank's character implicitly states she would rather die than go to college. I know exactly what you mean, Hilary.


Maltese Falcon (1941)
I prefer the book. The casting is perfect except for one major flaw: Mary Astor isn't a knockout.


V for Vendetta (2005) (repeat)
One of several Alan Moore comics to be idiotized for a mainstream film audience. I've written about it before (and misspelled "Hollywood" in the process, I see). There are some small parts that they haven't been able to drain completely of meaning. Valerie's letter is quite moving.



Twofifty update: 173

Footnote: No Bruce Willis films are likely to be reviewed in this series, since I've already seen all his movies on the 250 list (Pulp Fiction, Sin City, The Sixth Sense, Twelve Monkeys, Die Hard) and don't plan to watch any one of them again in the near future. So now you know.

4 comments:

Afe said...

Both Das Boot and Seven Samurai made me want to scratch my eyes out from boredom. My finger also got sore from pushing the fast forward button.

Koala Mentala said...

That would be stupid because you want the last movie you'll ever see to be a good one, don't you?

Afe said...

Yeah. I want the last movie I ever see to be "Flight of the Navigator".

Koala Mentala said...

Good choice. Here's mine.